Paint equipment rack for attaching to a paint tray



Aug. 23, 1960 L. 'r. MASCARETTI 2,950,012

PAINT EQUIPMENT RACK FOR ATTACHING TO A PAINT TRAY Filed April 1. 1957 /NVEN7OR-' LEO T. MASCARETTI ATTORNEY United States Patent O Leo T. Mascaretti, Racine, Wis., assignor of one-half to Arthur J. Hansmann, Racine, Wis.

Filed Apr. 1, 1957, Ser. No. 649,942 2 Claims. (Cl. 211-65) his invention relates to a paint roller rack which can be readily and easily attached to the conventional type of paint tray which is employed in conjunction with the roller.

It is an object of this invention to provide a rack or support which will suspend the conventional type of paint roller above the tray when the roller is not being used.

It is another object of this invention to provide a paint roller supporting rack which can be readily and easily attached to a conventional paint tray and which can readily and easily receive and support a conventional paint roller.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a rack for supporting paint applying equipment above the conventional type of paint tray, and the rack being so attached to the tray that the rack can be pivoted down into the tray from its upright supporting position to a collapsed position within the tray.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the rack of this invention and with the rack supporting both a paint roller and a paint brush and shown mounted onto a conventional paint tray; the dotted lines show the rack in the folded or collapsed position when the tray is not being used.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l.

The same reference numerals between the two views.

The drawings show the rack or support of this invention attached to a conventional paint tray 11, and a conventional paint roller 12 and paint brush 13 are shown being suspended above the paint tray 11 by means of the rack 10. Of course, it will be understood that the paint tray 11 is normally supported on the top of a step ladder by means of the usual tray hook 14 located underneath the tray, and thus the rack 10 serves to support either or both the roller 12 and the brush 13 when the user is using the equipment for purposes of painting. It has long been known that when a paint roller and tray are used, it is often necessary that a paint brush be used for painting corners of the room which is being painted and, heretofore, the painter did not have any place to support the brush or the roller when the other paint applier was being used. Frequently it is the practice to lay the brush on top of the step ladder, and this, of course, means that the brush will pick up dirt or the step ladder will receive the pain-t from the brush, and obviously both of these results are undesirable. Also, it is the practice that the roller 12 be laid in the tray with the roller handle 16 engaging the rear rim 17 of the tray 11. However, often the roller falls into the tray, and thus the roller handle 16 and the cylindrical portion 18 of the roller become covered with paint in the tray. In addition, even when the handle 16 retains the roller 12 out of the paint of the tray, the cylindrical portion 18 of the roller will be resting in the refer to the same parts bottom of the tray and will not, therefore, drained and maintained out of the paint.

The rack or support 10 is shown to include an upright portion 19 which extends through a lower end 21 disposed down along the inside surface of the side 22 of the tray 11. A clamp piece 23 similarly extends over the outside surface of the tray side 22 except that the piece 23 includes an ofiset 24 for purposes of receiving the top beaded rim or edge 26 of the tray side 22. Of course, the rim bead 26 is normally found on the conventional tray 11, but only on the outside face of the tray side, and the provision of the offset 24, therefore, accommodates the bead 26 for the purpose of tightly clamping the tray side 22 between the piece 23 and the piece 19' through means of a thumb screw 27. It should be further understood that the thumb screw 27 can be provided with the usual threads on the unshown end thereof which is projecting to the inside of the tray, and these usual threads can receive a wing nut which will make it easy and simple to attach and adjust the tension of the thumb screw 27 when the rack 10 is mounted on the tray, as shown. Of course, the thumb screw 27 passes through an opening 28 in the piece 23, and a similar opening is provided in the piece 19 aligned with the opening 28.

An upper end of the piece 19 is horizontally disposed in a section 29 which is thus positioned above the bottom of the tray 11. The section or portion 29 includes an indent or offset portion 31 which receives the rod-like section 32 of the paint roller handle, as shown. A clamp or retaining means 33 is movably attached to the rack portion 29 to slide back and forth thereon for the purpose of sliding over the paint roller rod portion 32 and thereby securing the roller in a fixed position on the rack 10. Fig. 2 particularly shows the arrangement of the clamp 33 and the offset or indented portion 31 flanking the rod handle 32, and this is accomplished in such a manner that the rod handle 32 is supported for an adequate length, such that the roller 12 will not tip in the fore-and-aft plane of the tray 11. In this manner, the paint roller 12 can be readily and easily mounted onto the rack 10, and the roller cylinder 18 is placed in a vertical position such that the cylinder can drain into the tray 11, if desired.

The end of the horizontal portion 29 is provided with a fork or bifurcated member 34 which receives the paint brush 13, as shown. It is preferred that the ends 36 of the fork 34 be closer together than the spacing of the other part of the fork so that the brush 13 can be readily and easily slipped onto and off from the fork 34.

With the foregoing described arrangement, upon removal of the brush 13 and the roller 12 from the rack 10, the latter can be pivoted down into the tray to the dotted line position shown. In order to accomplish this pivotal feature, it is preferred that the hole 28 in the outer clamp piece 23 be disposed closer to the tray edge 26 than half the width of the piece 19. Thus, when the thumb screw 27 is loosened, and the upright rack piece 19 is pivoted to the dotted position, the then lower edge 37 of the piece 19 falls within the limits of the tray side 22, such that the piece 19 and the piece 23 are still clamped onto the side 22. Of course, the dotted or collapsed position can be obtained when the rack 10 is not to be used for supporting the roller 12 and the brush 13, and the tray and rack are disposed in one compact position when not in use.

While a specific embodiment of this invention has been shown and described, it should be obvious that certain changes could be made therein, and the invention should, therefore, be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A rack for supporting a paint roller over a paint tray wherein the roller consists of the conventional cylin-,

be properly drical paint applying portion and the conventional offset handle portion and wherein the tray consists of a bottom and of a side having a beaded upper edge, the invention comprising a pair of clamping members adapted to be disposed on opposite sides of said tray side with the outer one of said members having an oifset for snugly receiving said beaded upper edge of said side, the other of said clamping members including an upright portion pivotally attachd to said outer one of said members and having a horizontally disposed upper end positioned in an operative position directly vertically above and spaced from said bottom of said tray when said clamping members are on said tray and said other of said members being pivotal to a storage position for placing said upper end onto said bottom, said upper end including means for receiving said handle of said paint roller for repivotally attached to said outer one fo said members and upper end when said other of said members is in said operative position.

2. A paint tray rack for supporting a paint brush and a paint roller over said tray and with said roller including a U-shaped handle, comprising a member formed of one-piece flat stock and adapted to be releasably attached to one side of said tray, said member including a lower vertical portion and an upper horizontal portion of a selected Width and being above said tray and terminating in a free end, a clamp on an intermediate part of said horizontal portion, said clamp including an indent extending entirely across said width and being concave from above for snugly receiving said U-shaped handle upon lowering said handle into said indent for positively holding and suspending said roller above said tray, and a fork on said free end of said horizontal portion formed by an opening on said free end between the legs of said fork for receiving a paint brush and suspending the same above said tray.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 414,857 Cash Nov. 12, 1889 1,055,488 Paterson Mar. 11, 1913 1,551,242 Dick Aug. 25, 1925 1,570,396 Pollock Jan. 19, 1926 2,002,202. Hein May 21, 1935 2,310,533 Lindell Feb. 9, 1943 2,315,269 Morgillo Mar. 30, 1943 2,498,511 Smith Feb. 21, 1950 2,530,470 Kenly Nov. 21, 1950 2,557,694 Sagen June 10, 1951 2,675,979 Vetterli et a1. Apr. 20, 1954 2,773,274- Beech Dec. 11, 1956 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION -Patent N0. 2 950 012 August 23, 1960/ Leo To Mascaretti Column 3, line 9 for ""attachd-"-'" read ettached line 17, strike out "pivotally attached to sand outer one f0 said members and" and insert instead movably securing said handle in a rigid position on said '--o Signed and sealed this 4th day of April 1961a (SEAL) Arm; ERNEST w. SWIDER X/XXXXAXIX ARTHUR W. CRQCKER Attesting Ofllcer cting Commissioner of Patents 

